Behind the viral fundraiser: meet the aid group reuniting families

When splitting parents and children at the border became explicit White House policy in the spring – creating outrage, anguish and chaos – Raices was among the aid groups urgently seeking to locate and help families. In June a federal judge ordered families to be reunified, but about 3,000 children, mostly from Central America, were separated as they entered the US from Mexico.

The plan was criticised for inflicting fresh trauma on migrants escaping violence and hardship who had endured harsh journeys to reach the US, and for raising the prospect that some children will never be reunited with their parents.